Volume 1 Chapter 4 Automating QUEST Startup

Even typing a few simple command lines such as TERM T420/DEVI MOUSE/MENU can become tedious after a while, especially if you use QUEST frequently.

In the past, the CCDC has recommended the use of a QUEST command, INITIALISE (or simply INIT) to start the graphical interface.

The INIT command is still available, and is described in the QUEST program's on-line HELP, but it has certain limitations. Principally, INIT was satisfactory if there happened to be an INIT value corresponding to your situation, but, if not, you had to edit a QUEST subroutine and then recompile and relink the source code. Additionally, remembering the correct INIT number if you used several different terminals was not always easy, especially for occasional users.

There is now an alternative to the INIT command, which is described here. This is a file known as the QUEST Initialisation file, which is automatically read in every time you start QUEST. It simply contains one or more valid QUEST instructions.

Thus, for example, if you always use full MENU mode on your Tektronix 4100 Series terminal or emulator, and you always want to save refcodes for every hit, and you are only ever interested in entries for which atomic coordinates are stored, you might create a file containing:

SCREEN 153
SAVE REFCODE
TERM T41
MENU FULL

VMS users could name this file QUEST_INIT.QUE in the current working directory, or in their login directory(SYS$LOGIN).

UNIX users could name this file quest_init.que in the current directory, or in their login directory (~).

(Machine-Independent Package users should consult the person who installed the software at their site).

Then, whenever QUEST is started, these commands will be read in and acted upon.

For example,

Now interpreting instructions in QUEST initialisation file
>SCREEN 153
>SAVE REFCODE
>TERM T41
>MENU FULL

Note: It is safest to make MENU, if present, the last command in your initialisation file.

Initialisation files have several advantages over the INIT command:

Individual users may create their own sets of instructions, without needing to modify the source code.
They are automatically executed.
You do not have to remember an INITialisation number, corresponding to your terminal.

If you want to temporarily switch off the QUEST Initialisation file, you could create an empty file called, for example, BLANK.QUE or blank.que.

Then, assign CSD$INIT to be BLANK.QUE (for VMS users) or $CSDINIT to be blank.que (for UNIX users).

For more information on QUEST Initialisation files see chapter 13 ("Customising your Implementation of QUEST").

Back to Table of Contents

Volume 1 Chapter 5 1D Searching Overview .

4.4 Automating the QUEST Start-up